ABCDataworks
Database and Website Design, Development, and Deployment--All in the Service of Your Mission
The article Fundamentals of Relational Database Design was written by Paul Litwin, an excellent and highly respected writer on the topic. With his permission, we have posted a copy here.
This is a great essay for new developers to read--it really is all the basic theory you need to get started. It tells you how to design your table scheme, and why to use this approach.
In fact, this article is so well written that we occasionally recommend it to non-technical clients, to help them get a glimpse of what is going on behind their applications.